The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-199989, filed on Jun. 29, 2001, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer-readable recording medium with a video game program recorded thereon; a video game program; a video game processing method; and a video game processing apparatus, capable of displaying multiple characters including player characters and enemy characters on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player.
2. Description of the Related Art
A genre of computer video game is known as a role-playing game (RPG). In an RPG, generally, a character performs a role in a game in place of a player, and by controlling this character (hereinafter, the player character) the player experiences a virtual adventure while causing a story involving the player character to unfold. In most cases, a character which opposes the player character (hereinafter, an enemy character) is provided in each of a number of set zones formed in a virtual space. The story is then caused to unfold by the player character proceeding from one zone to the next and fighting with and defeating enemy characters seeking to prevent the player character from achieving a certain objective in the story.
The player character is controlled by means of buttons on a keypad, a joystick or the like. In response to control operations performed on this keypad, the player character moves and carries out predetermined actions. In the course of the story, numerous events such as battle scenes are provided. In these events, the game proceeds on the basis of selection operations being carried out by the player.
Although in battle scenes of video games of related art, in many cases a player character and an enemy character fight one-on-one, video games have also been proposed that make the game more interesting by allowing a number of player characters and a number of enemy characters to fight. Also proposed are video games where multiple player characters and multiple enemy characters can fight in a predetermined order and it is possible, as necessary, to replace a player character taking part in a scene such as a battle.
However, in video games of the related art, there has been the problem that the greater the number of characters taking part in a battle, and the more complicated are the actions that the player characters perform, the more difficult it becomes to keep track of their state. In worst cases, it has sometimes happened that the player performs an erroneous control operation and a character does not carry out the action that the player intended. Thus, the enjoyability of the game is reduced. Additionally, in some video games, when selecting a character to be the object of an action to be performed by a player character, not only is the control operation monotonous, but there has been the problem that because there is no response from the character, the process lacks a sense of reality.
It is, therefore, a purpose of the present invention to provide a computer-readable recording medium with a video game program recorded thereon; a video game program; a video game processing method; and a video game processing apparatus, with which it is possible to exploit the particular characteristics of the video game to heighten its sense of reality and with which it is possible to understand easily which character is to be the purpose of an action of a player character.
To achieve this purpose and other purposes, a first aspect of the invention provides a computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a video game program capable of displaying multiple characters including a player character and an enemy character on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player, which program executes accepting an input to a computer of a candidate character intended to be the purpose of an action to be performed by a predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. Further, the program performs image-control so that the line of sight of the predetermined character points to the candidate character accepted as input.
According to this first aspect, because the line of sight of a predetermined character to execute an action is controlled to point to a candidate character, a recording medium with a program can be provided with which a player can easily make out the candidate character and the enjoyability of the game can be maintained.
With this first aspect, also, there may be recorded on the recording medium a program for accepting a second input of a second action to be performed by the predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. The program also distinguishes the second action accepted as the second input. The program further executes the second action accepted as the second input in accordance with a control operation of the player. Moreover, the program performs image-control in accordance with a distinguishing result obtained when distinguishing the second action so that the line of sight of the predetermined character and the line of sight of the candidate character assume a predetermined relationship. In this case, even in the execution of a predetermined action accepted as input, the relationship between the predetermined character and the candidate character can to some extent be understood and the enjoyability of the game can be maintained better. This is so because the line of sight of the predetermined character performing the action and the line of sight of the candidate character are controlled so that they assume a predetermined relationship.
A second aspect of the invention provides a computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a video game program capable of displaying multiple display characters including a player character and an enemy character on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player. The program accepts an input to a computer of an action to be performed by a predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. The program further distinguishes the action accepted as the input when accepting the input. Moreover, the program executes the action accepted as input when accepting the input in accordance with a control action of a player and performing image-control in accordance with a distinguishing result obtained when distinguishing the action so that the line of sight of the predetermined character and the line of sight of a character to be the purpose of the action assume a predetermined relationship.
According to this second aspect, in the execution of a predetermined action, accepted as input, a recording medium can be provided with which the relationship between the predetermined character and the candidate character can, to some extent, be understood and the enjoyability of the game can be better maintained. This is so because the line of sight of the predetermined character performing the action and the line of sight of the candidate character are controlled so that they assume a predetermined relationship.
A third aspect of the invention provides a video game program capable of displaying multiple characters including a player character and an enemy character on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player. The program accepts an input to a computer of a candidate character intended to be the purpose of an action to be performed by a predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. The program further performs image-control so that the line of sight of the predetermined character points to the candidate character accepted as input in the when accepting input.
According to this third aspect, because the line of sight of a predetermined character to execute an action is controlled to point to a candidate character, a player can easily make out the candidate character and the enjoyability of the game can be maintained.
With this third aspect, the video game program may also accept a second input of a second action to be performed by the predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. The program further distinguishes the second action accepted as the second input. The program, moreover, executes the second action accepted as the second input in accordance with a control operation of the player and performs image-control in accordance with a distinguishing result obtained when distinguishing the second action so that the line of sight of the predetermined character and the line of sight of the candidate character assume a predetermined relationship. In this case, even in the execution of a predetermined action accepted as a second input, the relationship between the predetermined character and the candidate character can, to some extent, be understood and the enjoyability of the game can be better maintained. This is so because the line of sight of the predetermined character performing the action and the line of sight of the candidate character are controlled so that they assume a predetermined relationship.
A fourth aspect of the invention provides a video game program capable of displaying multiple characters including a player character and an enemy character on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player. The program accepts an input to a computer of an action to be performed by a predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. The program further distinguishes the action accepted as input when accepting the input. The program, moreover, executes the action accepted as input when accepting the input in accordance with a control action of a player and performing image-control in accordance with a distinguishing result obtained when distinguishing the action so that the line of sight of the predetermined character and the line of sight of a character to be the purpose of the action assume a predetermined relationship.
According to this fourth aspect, in the execution of a predetermined action accepted as input, the relationship between the predetermined character and the candidate character can to some extent be understood and the enjoyability of the game can be better maintained. This is so because the line of sight of the predetermined character performing the action and the line of sight of the candidate character are controlled so that they assume a predetermined relationship.
A fifth aspect of the invention provides a video game processing method of a video game capable of displaying multiple display characters including a player character and an enemy character on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player. The method includes accepting an input to a computer of a candidate character intended to be the purpose of an action to be performed by a predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. The method further includes performing image-control so that the line of sight of the predetermined character points to the candidate character accepted as input when accepting input.
According to this fifth aspect, because the line of sight of a predetermined character to execute an action is controlled to point to a candidate character, a player can easily make out the candidate character and the enjoyability of the game can be maintained.
With this fifth aspect, the method may further include accepting a second input of a second action to be performed by the predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. The method further includes distinguishing the second action accepted as input. The method, moreover, executes the second action accepted at the second input in accordance with a control operation of the player and performing image-control in accordance with a distinguishing result obtained when distinguishing the second action so that the line of sight of the predetermined character and the line of sight of the candidate character assume a predetermined relationship. In this case, even in the execution of the predetermined action accepted as the second input, the relationship between the predetermined character and the candidate character can to some extent be understood and the enjoyability of the game can be maintained better. This is so because the line of sight of the predetermined character performing the action and the line of sight of the candidate character are controlled so that they assume a predetermined relationship.
A sixth aspect of the invention provides a video game processing method of a video game capable of displaying multiple display characters including a player character and an enemy character on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player. The method includes accepting an input to a computer of an action to be performed by a predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player. The method further includes distinguishing the action accepted as input when accepting input. The method, moreover includes executing the action accepted as input when accepting input in accordance with a control action of a player and performing image-control in accordance with a distinguishing result obtained when distinguishing the action so that the line of sight of the predetermined character and the line of sight of a character to be the purpose of the action assume a predetermined relationship.
According to this sixth aspect, in the execution of an input-accepted predetermined action accepted as input, the relationship between the predetermined character and the candidate character can to some extent be understood and the enjoyability of the game can be better maintained. This is so because the line of sight of the predetermined character performing the action and the line of sight of the candidate character are controlled so that they assume a predetermined relationship.
A seventh aspect of the invention provides a video game processing apparatus, including a storing system that stores a video game program capable of displaying multiple display characters including a player character and an enemy character on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player. The apparatus further includes a computer for reading from the storing system and executing the program. The apparatus, moreover, includes a display apparatus for picture display, provided as an output system of the computer, wherein the computer, by executing the program, accepts the input of a candidate character intended to be the purpose of an action to be performed by a predetermined character. This is in accordance with a control operation of a player. The apparatus further performs image-control so that the line of sight of the predetermined character points to the candidate character accepted as input.
According to this seventh aspect, because the line of sight of a predetermined character to execute an action is controlled to point to a candidate character, a player can easily make out the candidate character and the enjoyability of the game can be maintained.
With this seventh aspect, preferably, the computer also accepts an input of an action to be performed by a predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player and distinguishes the action accepted as input and executes the action accepted as input in accordance with a control operation of the player and performs image-control in accordance with a result of distinguishing the action accepted as input. This is so that the line of sight of the predetermined character and the line of sight of the candidate character can assume a predetermined relationship. In this case, even in the execution of the predetermined action accepted as input, the relationship between the predetermined character and the candidate character can to some extent be understood and the enjoyability of the game can be maintained better. This is so because the line of sight of the predetermined character performing the action and the line of sight of the candidate character are controlled so that they assume a predetermined relationship.
An eighth aspect of the invention provides a video game apparatus, including a storing system that stores a video game program capable of displaying multiple display characters including a player character and an enemy character on a screen and controlling actions of the displayed characters in accordance with control operations of a player. The apparatus further includes a computer for reading from the storing system and executes the program. The apparatus, moreover, includes a display apparatus for picture display, provided as an output system of the computer, wherein the computer, by executing the program, accepts the input of an action to be performed by a predetermined character in accordance with a control operation of a player and distinguishes the action accepted as input and executes the action accepted as input in accordance with a control operation of the player and performs image-control in accordance with a result of distinguishing the action accepted as input so that the line of sight of the predetermined character and the line of sight of the candidate character assume a predetermined relationship.
With this eighth aspect, in the execution of a predetermined action accepted as input, the relationship between the predetermined character and the candidate character can to some extent be understood and the enjoyability of the game can be better maintained. This is so because the line of sight of the predetermined character performing the action and the line of sight of the candidate character are controlled so that they assume a predetermined relationship.